Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Wow, so it's been so long since our last post. I'm obviously not as good at this blogging thing as I hoped. Well, I'll try to catch everyone up as fast as possible. I'm sure I'll miss a lot, but I'll do my best.

TJ got accepted to BYU in Provo! After much preparation and doing well at his audition, he found out that he had gotten accepted to the school of music, and then to the university itself! We were so excited and very happy to know what to plan on for the fall semester.

I graduated from college!! On July 23rd, I graduated with my bachelors in social work. It was so exciting, but also a little scary. I had to accept the fact that I was about to enter the "real world" and had to grow up. I also was a little sad because I really enjoy school and was sad I wouldn't be going back (until the hopeful day I can go back and get my masters). My parents were able to be there for it too. The day before graduation and the next two days afterwards were spent packing up our apartment to prepare for the big move to Provo. Finally, on the Monday after graduation, we put the finishing touches on our moving truck, finished cleaning the apartement, checked out, and drove to Provo. When we got to Provo, we spent the rest of the afternoon (in 100 degree weather) unpacking the truck into a storage unit. But then we were done (at least for a month)! We definitely couldn't have done it all without my parents.... Thanks for your help! We love you!

Next, we headed to Minnesota for the first Rands Family reunion. It was tons of fun! We borrowed some RVs from people so there were enough beds for people to sleep in and the Wharton's were amazing hosts, especially with 22 of us! We did lots of fun stuff like have a corn-on-the-cob eating contest (which later turned into a pizza eating contest for the boys where TJ got 2nd place by eating 73 pieces), go to a historical farm with lots of animals, go to the pool, go on a family bike ride, and play fun games! It was so much fun and so good to be with my whole family, especially since I hadn't even met some of them (Olive and the twins) yet! After we were done with the reunion, we headed to the Peper's house for a fun visit with them. It was so nice to spend time with the Pepers and the Warrens and was pretty low key (so the opposite of the week before), so we got the best of both worlds! After visiting with them, we headed back to Macomb to spend some time with just my parents (and give them their car back they had let us borrow!) and give TJ some time to practice. I had talked to my band director from high school and gotten permission for him to use their equipment. Then, after being there for a little while, we got in the car one more time and went to St. Louis to visit the Wilsons. While we were there we had the privilege to witness Brynn's first day of Kindergarten, draw and color some animals for Dylan's birthday party the next week, visit Scott Air Force base where PJ works, and even go bowling! Then, on the last day we were there we even made a trip to the infamous arch! Since Kelly and TJ are a little scared of heights, they didn't have the best time at the top, but Tyler and I had fun!! Then, it was time to go home... So Kelly took us to the airport, and after about a month away, we headed back to Utah.

So, that's where we are now! We're living at Wymount Terrace (in the same building my parents lived in) and it's not as nice as the village (mostly because of the lack of storage space) but it's not as bad as I expected. TJ's liking school, though it is harder than BYU-I, but that's what he wanted! I'm working and the restaurant is getting ready to open in about a week (oh, and it's now called Pizza Pie Cafe, not Craigo's) so it's been BUSY! We've been loving BYU football, and I even went to my very first college football game two weeks ago. It was so fun!

So, I guess all that leaves is the news that I'm.... PREGNANT. Our families already know, but for anyone who didn't, there ya go! We had our first doctors appointment about a month ago and got to see our BABY! So here he/she is....

So cute right? Well, now that we're settled, found the cord to our camera, and have some important stuff to write about, hopefully I'll be much better at this. Sorry this was such a long post, but hopefully you got all the important stuff :) Love you all!